There are some fields that are valuable for permaculture types and I want to add them to some plants in the database. Can I get some feedback on the proposed additions to the Primary Plant Details? Especially from @zuzu@Calif_Sue@KentPfeiffer and @eclayne

Might consider adding checkboxes for Bats and Hummingbirds (and maybe Other Birds?) in the Pollinators field.

I vote for an actual range in the pH field.

I'd prefer:

In Water
Wet
Wet Mesic
Mesic
Dry Mesic
Dry

checkboxes in the Water Needs field, but can understand why you might not want to go that direction.

Growth rate might be problematic because it's a relative measure that depends greatly on what you are measuring it against. Red oak is a relatively slow growing tree, compared to a cottonwood, but pretty fast compared to a bur oak.

I'd also like to see more detail in the Ph field as well as a checkbox structure. If we have checkboxes in 1/2 point increments could they be displayed as a range? ex. If I check (5.5, 6, 6.5, 7); can it be displayed as 5.5 - 7?

I'm a little confused about the soil preferences because I have sandy loam, and I see that term much more often than "sandy" or "loam." If plants prefer sandy loam, and I believe most plants do, which of these would we check?

That might work Kent. Those plants which thrive in forest duff and for which loam, sand or sandy loams aren't ideal as they can hold too much water. The roots need air circulation or the plant can suffer.

zuzu said:I'm a little confused about the soil preferences because I have sandy loam, and I see that term much more often than "sandy" or "loam." If plants prefer sandy loam, and I believe most plants do, which of these would we check?

For those typical plants, "Sandy Loam" would be checked off. There are some plants that like sandy soil and for them it would have simply "Sandy" checked off.

Some plants do equally well in all soils so all 3 types would be checked off.

Soil types are sand silt and clay. Loam is a combination of the three. Depending on the source is equal part of each or equal parts sand and silt with a smaller portion clay such as 40% - 40% - 20%. Depending on the mix, the term loam can be further describe by the content such as sandy loam, silty loam, clay loam, silty clay loam, sandy clay loam.